


I don't know what to do without you

by amami_mia



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 20:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19236427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amami_mia/pseuds/amami_mia
Summary: Ann had fallen in love many times before, but it felt different with Shiho.





	I don't know what to do without you

**Author's Note:**

> Because I'm on mobile I can't really add much to the tags :P. This is supposed to be a Shiho Moves To Inaba AU but you can choose to ignore it. Also, there's references to Shiho's suicide attempt, although not too many.
> 
> Anyways, I plan to update this fic soon with more content than just trying to get in the groove of writing Ann's psyche.
> 
> (I couldn't choose whether or not to call the protagonist Akira or Ren so uhhh Joker it is)

Ann was no stranger to love. It was something she had fallen into many times before, and fallen out of just as quickly. But every new love feels like it's the first in the beginning, and she had never had a love quite like Shiho.

 

It was like a superbloom, life springing out of every cranny of her heart. Sure, she had loved Shiho before, but now she  _ loved _ her, and the difference between love and  _ love _ was miles wide, but also non-existent. 

 

Her love for Shiho wasn't different because Shiho was a girl - she's lost track of how many girls she has loved before - but because Shiho was Shiho, and not anyone else. She had never gone through the depths of hell with anyone else, never been willing to sacrifice her humanity for anyone else, and she had never vowed so fiercely to protect anyone else.

 

But then Shiho slipped right through her fingers, falling to the ground like a leaf into a puddle and Ann could only watch her fall. She had failed her, and even though she didn't know why quite yet, it hurt more than anything in the world, and it ate at her heart. However, the pain of failure was better in the end, she supposed. Without it she wouldn't have the drive to fight back against Kamoshida, and she wouldn't have joined the other Phantom Thieves in the crusade to bring the shitty ruler to his knees. 

 

The realization hit Ann in a quiet moment in the warm hospital room, hearing Shiho's groggy words for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. It didn't sink in until later that night, where she laid in her bed and the love contained in her heart flowed up from her chest to her head.

 

Ann really didn't have any inner turmoil about loving Shiho, except for silently agreeing with herself that she should give both her and Shiho some time before she should see if it was requited. They both had weights on their backs left by Kamoshida that would take a while to get used to, but couldn't be removed.

 

And so life went on, but it also didn't. Shiho was gone now, going to a different school with new friends and a new life. She got to start over, in a way. Ann wished she was lucky enough to get the same fate. But she had a role now, and she couldn't quite give it up. After all, a new case had just popped up, and the new kid - Ann felt horrible to admit it, but she was terrible with names. Ren? Akira? She wasn't sure. - seemed keen on following where it went. Ann was willing to follow his whims for now.

 

And so April turned to May turned to June, and their group had expanded from 4 to 6, and summer break had begun. They had a new heist now, but the time limit was a few weeks in the future, and surely it wouldn't matter if she took a day off, would it? 

 

That's how Ann was standing on the train platform, suitcase in one hand and makeup bag in other. She double checked her ticket a few times out of boredom. Her train wouldn't be here for another 15 minutes, but there were only 2 trains a day this far out, and she already missed one so she couldn't wander off into the station. Shiho's family had moved out to a more rural area, one which Joker claimed to be familiar with, although he claimed many things about his previous life that they couldn't exactly prove or deny. Shiho had sent pictures of her room before, and it was definitely more spacious than the old and cramped Tokyo apartment, but it just seemed... lacking. It wasn't the room that they'd spend hours in gossiping, or the room where they'd sleep until noon together, always in the same bed. Maybe things would be different when she actually saw it. She hoped they would.

 

Ann looked down at her phone, and saw a string of message notifications. She opened it.

 

Shiho🏐: are you on the train yet? ꒰๑•̥﹏•̥๑꒱

Shiho🏐: hellooooooo 

Shiho🏐: ｡ﾟ(ﾟ∩´﹏`∩ﾟ)ﾟ｡ ann yr killing me

 

Ann quickly typed out a response

 

Ann💋✨: It's not here yet 😔

Ann💋✨: But I promise you I'll be the first one to board

Shiho🏐: omg hell yeah!

Shiho🏐: do u have any good train station food with you (´꒳`∗)

Shiho🏐: (´꒳`∗)

Shiho🏐: (´꒳`∗)

Ann💋✨: Sorry to disappoint, but any food I've bought during this wait has been directly deposited into my mouth.

Shiho🏐: (´꒳`∗)

Ann💋✨: Also I don't really have time to get more.

Shiho🏐: (´꒳`∗)

Ann💋✨: Fine. If I miss the train it's totally your fault.

Ann💋✨: 🥨 or 🌭?

Shiho🏐: pretzel 

Shiho🏐: i promise ill pay u back

Ann💋✨: I'm keeping you to that, Suzui.

 

Ann sighed, shoved her phone into her pocket, and pulled out her wallet as she walked over to a food vendor nearby.

* * *

 

Ann had taken 5 steps off the train before she was bombarded by a fast-walking Shiho.

 

"Ann!" she yelled, putting her arms tightly around the blonde's waist. Shiho used to be able to pick Ann up and twirl her around, but her physical activities had been limited since her accident. Her arms still had definition though, and Ann could certainly feel it. Shiho hugged Ann even harder, pulled her closer, and whispered into her ear "Where's my pretzel?" in about the lowest voice she could muster. Both girls started laughing uncontrollably, gripping onto each other. Ann then produced the now kind of cold and soggy pretzel from her bag.

 

"Here it is, but I dunno if you'd wanna eat this. Now give me 250 yen." Shiho snatched the pretzel from Ann's hands, took a bite, and then made a face of disgust.

 

"Ugh, this is awful." Shiho quickly walked over to a nearby trashcan and threw away both the pretzel and the bag it came in.

 

"I mean, it's a train station pretzel that I bought an hour and a half ago. It's not gonna be the height of quality, you know." Ann said, one hand on her hip, the other holding her suitcase. Noticing her heavy luggage, Shiho immediately snatched it from her, disregarding an annoyed yelp. "Come on, I can carry my own luggage just fine!" Ann said with an over-exaggerated pout that she could barely keep without laughing. 

 

Shiho smiled and rolled her eyes. "I know, I know, but I can carry your luggage better." she said, her smile turning into a slight smirk. That was probably true. She had always been the more athletic out of the two, even back in middle school. Still, Ann was not one to turn down a challenge, even though none was technically being presented.

 

"Oh yeah?" Ann said, tightening her grip on her makeup bag. "Bet you that I can beat you to your house." She could see the fire in Shiho's eyes at her proposal. Ann hadn't seen that fire for a while, not since their first year of high school. She missed it.

 

Shiho stretched her arms, then her legs, and then got into a starting position. "Ann Takamaki," she said, starting into the blonde's eyes, "you're on."

 

The race had begun.


End file.
